Joint statement to the Human Rights Council on trafficking
In June 2014, the Commission submitted a video statement to the Human Rights Council on behalf of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. This follows a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on human trafficking, which had a particular focus on women and children.
The video message focuses on:
- welcoming recent efforts to improve the legislative framework on trafficking within the UK, through the draft Modern Slavery Bill (applicable to England and Wales), the draft Human Trafficking and Exploitation Bill (applicable to Northern Ireland) and forthcoming legislation in Scotland.
- emphasising the importance of aligning the domestic definition of human trafficking more closely with the international definition.
- welcoming the proposal to establish an Anti-Slavery Commissioner
- Emphasising the importance of providing measure to protect child victims in forthcoming legislation, for example providing independent guardian to unaccompanied minors who are potential victims of trafficking.
- Improvement in data analysis to help identify the true extent of the issue would be made.
Watch the video message delivered by Onora O'Neill, Chair of the Commission below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GOQnG4rVjI
Download a transcript of the statement.
Last Updated: 27 Apr 2015